Which Columbia University major has the lowest debt?

Electrical Engineering graduates leave with a median of $12,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 20 Columbia University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Columbia University cost?

Tuition and fees are $71,845 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $21,590 a year.

How many Columbia University programs report graduate pay?

26 bachelor's programs at Columbia University report first-year pay, and 20 of them also report federal debt.

Columbia University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Columbia University in the City of New York
Private nonprofit university
New York, NY
8,973 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

26 Columbia University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Science pays the most in the first year ($118,636), and Music the least ($32,924). The median program pays $54,142.

Tuition and fees$71,845Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$21,590Per year

Graduation rate96%Within 6 years

Admission rate4%Of applicants

All 26 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in New York" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across New York. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in New York
1	Computer ScienceAbout 391 graduates a year	$118,636	$204,511	$20,397	2nd of 20
2	Operations ResearchAbout 50 graduates a year	$110,457	$199,865	Not reported	1st of 2
3	Computer EngineeringAbout 28 graduates a year	$102,083	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 11
4	Applied MathematicsAbout 60 graduates a year	$91,559	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 6
5	Electrical EngineeringAbout 31 graduates a year	$84,019	$112,032	$12,000	3rd of 18
6	EconomicsAbout 360 graduates a year	$83,135	$134,398	$25,000	3rd of 36
7	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 75 graduates a year	$72,036	$103,801	$16,960	8th of 21
8	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 54 graduates a year	$62,895	Not reported	$19,500	5th of 11
9	Political ScienceAbout 232 graduates a year	$61,077	$98,687	$22,943	1st of 47
10	SociologyAbout 70 graduates a year	$58,541	$93,017	$31,000	1st of 38
11	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 36 graduates a year	$55,206	Not reported	$18,799	1st of 9
12	Chemical EngineeringAbout 20 graduates a year	$55,154	$120,085	Not reported	12th of 12
13	Romance LanguagesAbout 26 graduates a year	$54,327	$78,873	$20,250	1st of 19
14	Sustainability StudiesAbout 59 graduates a year	$53,957	$85,716	$18,070	1st of 2
15	HistoryAbout 152 graduates a year	$53,828	$66,087	$22,000	1st of 35
16	Experimental PsychologyAbout 166 graduates a year	$53,156	$80,055	$20,500	1st of 10
17	PhilosophyAbout 75 graduates a year	$52,668	$33,503	$20,062	1st of 9
18	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 41 graduates a year	$51,435	$55,731	$26,853	1st of 35
19	Area StudiesAbout 64 graduates a year	$41,479	$78,037	$22,486	2nd of 8
20	BiologyAbout 57 graduates a year	$40,935	$69,310	$19,892	3rd of 65
21	Writing and RhetoricAbout 33 graduates a year	$36,244	$67,649	Not reported	1st of 12
22	EnglishAbout 87 graduates a year	$35,838	$74,155	$25,500	4th of 41
23	Other Social SciencesAbout 37 graduates a year	$34,845	$76,126	$26,000	6th of 9
24	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 20 graduates a year	$34,658	Not reported	$21,065	4th of 5
25	NeuroscienceAbout 89 graduates a year	$33,893	$77,489	$27,000	4th of 8
26	MusicAbout 16 graduates a year	$32,924	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 15

Program names link to the program's own page, and New York ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five New York programs in the field do too.

2 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Science$118,636
Operations Research$110,457
Computer Engineering$102,083
Applied Mathematics$91,559
Electrical Engineering$84,019

Lowest median debt

Electrical Engineering$12,000
Mechanical Engineering$16,960
Sustainability Studies$18,070
Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender Studies$18,799
Biomedical Engineering$19,500

Largest programs

Computer ScienceAbout 391 graduates a year
EconomicsAbout 360 graduates a year
Political ScienceAbout 232 graduates a year
Experimental PsychologyAbout 166 graduates a year
HistoryAbout 152 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $118,636 in their first year, the most of 26 Columbia University bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of New York rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels